It is generally known to provide a vehicle including a vehicle frame assembly of any known or appropriate type such as a unitary body on frame assembly. It is also generally known to provide a vehicle including various structures for improving the performance of the vehicle during a variety of types of impacts to the vehicle. The performance of a vehicle and its various structures, assemblies and components from an impact may be assessed using a variety of crash tests and analytical methodologies.
A frontal crash having a relatively small amount of overlap or offset may be designed to attempt to replicate what may happen when only a relatively small portion of the front corner of a vehicle collides with another object like a vehicle, tree, utility pole or the like. One known industry test is the small overlap rigid barrier (SORB) test. In the SORB test, a vehicle travels at 40 mph toward a 5-foot-tall rigid barrier and only the outer 25% of the vehicle width is impacted into the barrier. It is generally understood that most modern vehicles may be designed to have safety cages and other structures, assemblies and components for protecting the occupant compartment and built to help manage energy with controlled and limited deformation to the vehicle during a variety of impacts to the vehicle from most direction, including a head-on and overlap frontal crashes. The crush zones of the main body and frame structures are designed to manage the crash energy to reduce forces on the occupant compartment and its occupants. When a crash involves these structures, the occupant compartment may generally be protected from intrusion, and the airbags and safety restraints may perform to restrain and help protect vehicle occupants.
Small overlap or offset frontal crashes primarily affect a vehicle's outer edges, which may not be directly protected by some of the primary crush-zone structures. In such a scenario, crash forces may go directly into the front wheel, suspension system and potentially the vehicle firewall and body including the passenger compartment. In a small overlap crash which does not engage the main structures of the vehicle it may be possible for the wheel to be forced rearward towards the passenger compartment of the body of the vehicle.
Even though such crush-zone and body (or cab) on frame type structures have been known and have some certain advantages, there remains a continuing and significant need to provide improved impact or crush performance structures with optimized structural efficiencies including lower cost and improved performance. There remains a significant a need to address and improve the SORB impact performance of a vehicle and to develop alternative designs and components which improve the IIHS SORB structural and overall rating performance. In particular, there remains a continuing and significant need to provide additional improved SORB impact performance in a vehicle that will include better managing the impact forces for reducing intrusion of the forward structures.